From Pain to Power: How Pelvic Health and Nervous System Care Changed My Life

Hey there—
I’m Karla Ehlers, an Occupational Therapist, nervous system nerd, pelvic health specialist, and the founder of Occupelvic Health & Wellness.

Today, I’m doing something a little scary:
I’m getting vulnerable.

Because before I was a therapist helping women reconnect with their bodies,
I was a teenager terrified of being seen walking into a therapist’s office.

I was 14 the first time I tried to ask for help.

My mom had been worried about me—she saw the depression, the disconnection, the spiraling self-esteem. She begged me to go talk to someone. I finally gave in and asked her to drive me 30 minutes out of town, just so no one I knew would see me walk into that office.

I never went back.
I was scared. Ashamed. Emotionally shut down. I didn’t know how to explain what I was feeling—let alone how to process it.

Looking back now, I realize what I needed wasn’t just a mental health provider.
I needed a whole-body approach.
I needed someone to say, “What you’re feeling is real. And there’s a way through.”

Fast forward a decade or two, and I’m working in traditional hospital systems, helping people recover from surgeries and injuries. In 2022, my husband and I left our full-time jobs to become travel physical & occupational therapists, treating people while exploring the country in our RV.

It was beautiful in many ways. But inside me, something still felt… incomplete.

The jobs I was taking didn’t leave room for my passion: Women’s Health.
Pelvic health. Whole Body Health that addressed physical, mental, and emotional needs.
The kind of care that meets you in the in-between seasons—not just when you’re in crisis.

I didn’t want to wait until people were burned out, broken down, or post-op.
I wanted to help before it got to that point.
I wanted to build a space where women could feel safe, empowered, and connected—no matter what season of life they were in. I wanted to build a space for women struggling with chronic medical conditions to be seen as more than their health condition.

That’s why I founded Occupelvic Health & Wellness.

When it comes to women’s health, so much of what we carry goes unseen.

The shame.
The silence.
The stress.
The pain we’ve learned to ignore or “push through.”

I’ve spent years living with chronic back pain—even while living an active lifestyle. But the truth is, it wasn’t just physical. My body was carrying decades of repressed emotion and unprocessed experiences.

Then trauma occurs-a car accident-which totaled my car in Anchorage, Alaska. I walked away with no major physical symptoms but whiplash, dizziness, and mild concussion (per the CT scan). Months later, I found myself still in a state of distress: dizziness, hypersensitivities to loud sounds, anxiousness, gripping my pelvic floor in busy traffic, even having trouble being touched by husband. All signs indicating an overactive nervous system.

I went to a doctor who dismissed most of what I was telling her (sound familiar?) and wrote on my paperwork “depression.” I found this extremely interesting as she didn’t mention the depression to me at all during our appointment. She never referred me to another provider for help.

I share all of this because when physical symptoms persist past 3-6 months, they end up affecting us on a deeper level. They affect us mentally, emotionally, and in our relationships. Maybe I did develop depression, but she never offered a solution. I lost myself in this spiral of mood changes and body tension. My back pain was exacerbated. I was struggling. I needed someone like me, an Occupational Therapist who connects the mind and body. Who sees the distress in the nervous system and how it can exacerbate physical symptoms. I eventually found a trauma mental health therapist who specialized in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing). Which helped me to move past the trauma of the car accident. With my own clinical training and her help, the grip of trauma doesn’t hold on to me as much. I personally use the Safe and Sound Protocol to help my own nervous system regulation and retraining and share my experience with my clients who use it during our therapy sessions. And my pain cycle? I still get occasional flares when I exercise too hard, sit too long, or truly don’t take care of my self. That self who gets pushed to the side in order to get all the to-do lists and work tasks done. That self who doesn’t get prioritized. Until now.

That’s why I created the Self Care Rituals Program.

For the teen who left sports because her periods were unbearable.
For the college student who’s missed too many classes due to excessive menstrual bleeding and pain.
For the woman wanting to have amazing intimacy with her spouse but can’t due to pain
For the woman in her 30s, 40s, or beyond who’s so damn tired of pretending she’s fine when she’s not.

For the woman who’s on the brink of losing her job if she takes off one more day due to her Endometriosis flare up.

Chronic and persistent pain affects over 40 million women in the U.S.
And most of us were never taught how to listen to our bodies—let alone support them.

This program is the one I wish had existed for me all those years ago.
It’s rooted in nervous system care, chronic pain education, pelvic health, and self-love.

Inside the Self Care Rituals Program, you’ll:

• Learn tools to regulate & retrain your nervous system to stop the spin of overwhelm

• Understand how your pelvic floor and emotions are deeply connected

• Develop grounding rituals to carry you through stress, hormones, and pain

• Rebuild self-trust through education and empowerment

• Understand how your brain and spinal cord (part of your nervous system) affects your pain

• Join a supportive community of others who truly get it

It’s an online hybrid program—meaning you get the best of both worlds:
1:1 guidance + group connection.

This isn’t just about reducing pain (although we’ll do that too).
It’s about reconnecting to your inner wisdom.
It’s about feeling safe in your body again.
It’s about learning to listen, honor, and care for the version of you that’s been surviving for far too long.

Not ready to deep dive just yet?

I see you. Healing takes time, and not everyone is ready for a full transformation.
If you’re looking for a gentler starting point, try the Embrace Program: my self-paced, preventive pelvic health workshop.

It’s a great way to start learning the tools of how our breath really connects to our pelvic floor and how our posture is so much more than “sitting up straight”—without the pressure to “go all in” before you’re ready.

Learn more about the Embrace Program here

Whether you're fed up with the standard medical model, ready to move past your pain and live your life or simply craving a deeper relationship with your body—you’re welcome here.

You deserve more than symptom management.
You deserve care.
You deserve connection.
You deserve healing that sees all of you.

Your pain is not your fault.
But your healing?
That’s your right.

Warmly,
Karla Ehlers, OTR/L
Owner, Occupelvic Health & Wellness

Ready to see if working together is a right fit?